The invention relates generally to a crop-drying/storing enclosure which employs solar-heated air through an array of tubing in the floor of the enclosure to the crop.
In the drying of crops, such as corn, wheat, soybeans, tobacco, and the like, the crops are placed in some sort of an enclosure having means for the passing of air through the crops. In most instances, the air is heated by gas burners or other conventional systems.
In crops such as corn and wheat, the moisture contents must be controlled for the processing of the grain to avoid spoilage and for quality control. In the drying of tobacco, the moisture control is extremely critical that also affects the quality of tobacco. Crop drying/storage enclosures of the prior art have been confronted with the problem of obtaining an even distribution of air through the crop. If the drying medium is natural air, the enclosure is restricted to size and in dimension. If the air is heated, the distribution mechanism has not hereintofore provided a uniform distribution of air into the crops. It is well understood that although artificial heating does do the job of grain drying, whereas, in most instances, natural air will not, the quality of the grain drying with artificial heat is inferior to that dried by natural air. Again, it also is understood that natural air requires several months for grain drying; during which time moisture periods may and does cause mildewing and rot. Accordingly, natural air drying without the attendant disadvantages accompanied by periods of high moisture, appear to be the most ideally suited for grain drying.
Solar panels can be utilized with conventional crop enclosures for the heating of air. But, the cost of these panels and the cost of distributing the air through the crops is extreme--and not entirely satisfactory. Solar heating such as by "hot houses" does provide maximum such utilization which in turn provides heating of the natural air. However, the prior art glass panelled or sheet plastic house is not sufficiently rugged or suitable for the storing of crops; but, even more so, they are moisture confining.
To avoid the high cost solar panels of the prior art attempts have been made to compromise the solar panels with the hot house; that is, to provide for a crop enclosure with auxiliary solar structures. In some instances, the appendant structure may be of the hot-house type in combination with a conventional crop enclosure such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,784.
Again, even the appendant structure with a conventional type of crop enclosure, there is the crop factor of a conventional crop enclosure and added thereto the cost of a hot-house structure. But, ignoring the cost factor and assuming the air is sufficiently and properly heated, there still remains the efficient utilization of the solar-heated air.